Highlands first Clinical Research Facility gets underway

6th November 2008

Work has started on the first Clinical Research Facility (CRF) in the Highlands and Islands to provide a specialist environment for carrying out clinical research with a view to creating new products and services in the health sector.

The CRF is located at the Centre for Health Science in Inverness which was developed and is owned by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and accommodates some of the healthcare and medical related organisations in and around the city.

Development of the CRF has been made possible with funding of £1.5 million from HIE, as part of the Highland Diabetes Institute, a development supported by HIE with an additional £500,000 contribution from Lifescan.

The dedicated research facility at the CRF will provide a special environment for high quality clinical research in a purpose built, state of the art building. The facilities will comprise research rooms, consulting rooms, a pharmacy and two rooms with beds for overnight monitoring.

Significant opportunities will be provided for scientists to work more closely with clinical researchers, developing new therapies and treatments. Scientific advances and new products and services for business will develop into real benefits for patients.

The CRF will be at the hub of healthcare research and development activity in the Highlands and Islands, providing high quality, knowledge-based careers in the life sciences industry.

A team of nine including a project manager, pharmacist, research nurses and admin staff will be recruited within the next few weeks and managed by the health faculty at higher education network UHI Millennium Institute, the prospective University of the Highlands and Islands.

The facility will also provide premises for biotechnology companies and other businesses with an interest in health related products, ideas and services. Although having an emphasis on research into diabetes, research into other medical conditions will be undertaken in a partnership between the UHI health faculty and NHS Highland clinical staff.

As part of the third phase of the Centre for Health Science, the CRF lies at the heart of the Highland Diabetes Institute – a unique partnership between NHS Highland, UHI and Lifescan Scotland to promote high standards of diabetes care and education. The CRF will provide capacity for both commercial and non-commercial clinical studies.

There are four other Clinical Research Facilities in Scotland - Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen.

Ruaraidh MacNeil, operations manager at HIE in Inner Moray Firth, said the facility will be the engine for creating a sustainable research capacity for the Highlands in the key health science sector, initially focusing on the study of diabetes and cardiac problems common throughout the UK, but rapidly moving into other conditions.

He said: "The CRF will bring together the academic, medical and commercial sectors and will be a first for the Highlands and part of a wider Scottish network. It will facilitate clinical trials in the region making it easier for medical and scientific staff to devote time to research, moving product ideas from theory into practice, and creating business opportunity."

Sandra MacRury, Professor of Clinical Diabetes, UHI Millennium Institute, said: "The development of the Highland Clinical Research Facility is a major step forward for clinical research in the Highlands of Scotland; it engages the UHI Millennium Institute's health faculty and NHS Highland in an important joint venture.

"The facility will allow an increased capacity for researchers from a variety of backgrounds to conduct a number of different types of research projects and will greatly enhance opportunities for people in the Highlands to participate in research. It will be a focus for translational medicine ie 'bench to bedside' taking new ideas and discoveries from the laboratory into the clinical arena with accelerated benefits for patients."

Professor Selly Saini, Vice President of Research and Development at LifeScan said: "The CRF is a great collaboration which will enable key research into chronic disease and treatment. LifeScan Scotland is proud to have been given an opportunity to invest, alongside HIE, in such a worthwhile and cutting edge establishment."

The Centre for Health Science lies beside Raigmore Hospital, and the first phase accommodates the University of Stirling's department of nursery and midwifery, NES postgraduate medical centre, a new library for the Highland healthcare workforce and top class facilities for healthcare meetings and conferences.

The second phase contains a new dental centre, and has created space for a new clinical skills centre, the Centre for Rural Health, RRHEAL (Remote and Rural Health Educational Alliance), NHS Research and Development, biomedical business incubation space, and the Centre for Health Science company.

A third and final phase, due for completion later this year will contain the Highland Diabetes Institute - a unique partnership between NHS Highland, UHI and Lifescan Scotland to promote high standards of diabetes patient care and education and new products and services for commercialisation. The Clinical Research Facility will also be located in this phase, providing capacity for both commercial and non-commercial clinical research studies, developing new business concepts, ideas and products.

The Centre for Health Science building is the product of a seven-way partnership between NHS Highland; NHS Education for Scotland; Stirling University; UHI Department of Diabetes; the Centre for Rural Health (University of Aberdeen/UHI), Lifescan Scotland and led by HIE.

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Ian Thorburn - HIE senior development manager at the Centre for Health Science building 5 November 2008